Grounded
by Justadream940
Summary: Daryl kept Harry grounded it was as simple as that. After the war Harry struggled to remember whats its like to live a proper life but between Teddy and Daryl, Harry slowly started to remember what it was like. Now however with an apocalypse looming over them, all the nightmares and worry was coming flooding back. Would Daryl still be able to keep Harry grounded?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one:

He was so tired. No exhausted. He doesn't even remember being this tired during the war, this took tired to a new level. They had been tracking Daryl for days now, he was obviously in a car and they were walking so it was taking some time to catch up with him, they would make it though, he was determined.

Harry met Daryl when he was twenty and travelling aimlessly around America with his 18 month old godson Teddy, he had been lost in both meanings of the word. Daryl had allowed him to find himself again and offered his home to them, even if his brother Merle hadn't been exactly happy about it. It may sound cheesy but Daryl had been his saviour, he had kept Harry grounded, after the war Harry hadn't known what to do or what to think, he had been eighteen years old and suddenly told he was in charge of a baby that was barely a month old. It was safe to say Harry hadn't known what to do. All he had known was he needed to get out of England, away from anyone who knew him, including his friends who luckily understood what he was going through, and start a fresh. Although when he had found somewhere knew, he didn't know what to, he was a war survivor with a new born baby in a world he didn't understand anymore, in country he had never been before. Luckily Daryl found him and took him even though he looked like some unstable kid with a new born baby. After the war Harry struggled with nightmares and was jumpy around anyone, even his friends. Ron and Hermione didn't know how to help him, Hermione suspected he had some form at what muggles called PTSD but didn't know how to help. Daryl may not have understood what he had been through but was able to help by being a calm presence that didn't constantly bombard him with questions or try and be overly helpful. He just helped him care for Teddy and was there to reassure him he was safe after a nightmare. As their relationship progressed the nightmares got less and less intense to the point where they barely existed, they would never truly disappear but Daryl's presence stopped them causing any pain.

Harry didn't know why but he felt safe with Daryl, even though Daryl looked and sometimes seemed like he didn't care Harry knew it was all a mask, he knew all about masks, half the wizarding world seemed to wear one. They connected through shared experiences and just seemed to fit together. They weren't overly expressive with their feelings but both knew how the other really felt and a year down the line Harry finally told him about magic. He knows he was supposed to wait till marriage but Harry decided most of the wizarding word thought him now dead considering he only met up with family in private and had practically gone muggle, so decided he was safe to tell him. He was the boy-who-lived anyway surely that had to come with some perks right? Daryl took the news with disbelief at first but seeing Harry do a few tricks and levitating him out of the chair Daryl started to believe him. It wasn't until one day when Teddy was curled up in Daryl's lap and suddenly changed his hair style and eye colour to match Daryl's did he truly believe in magic.

Now however four years down the line he was lost again and Daryl wasn't even there to ground him and help him look after his five year old godson, who now saw both him and Daryl as his parents. Harry was trying his hardest to find Daryl by tracing his magic but considering Daryl was a muggle there wasn't much to trace making it very hard to trace. The zombies or whatever it is people are calling them now aren't exactly helping, in fact there the very reason he's searching for Daryl in the first place.

Harry and Teddy had been visiting Ron and Hermione in England for a couple of weeks when they started hearing stories and dyeing people coming back to life and attacking people. However they just dismissed them as stories that got over exaggerated and started ignoring the stories like everyone was. A few days later they wished they had listened when Ron, who had become an auror, had got scratched by one of them and got seriously ill. When he then became one of them a day later that's when they realised how bad it really was. The hospital was probably one of the worst places to be and he only just got Hermione and Teddy out unscathed. Hermione and the Weasley's were distraught but refused to come to America with him saying they couldn't leave their home so he went back to America with just Teddy. They then found America was in just a bad a state and quickly made their way home to find Daryl had left, he had managed to leave a note saying he had gone with Merle to the woods were it was safer and to come find them at their hut.

It had taken them a few days to make it to the hut on foot as there was no cars left in their little village to take this meant Harry had barely slept a wink as he was too worried about looking after Teddy. Harry had put wards up around them but he had no idea if they would work as he had never had to try and ward away a living dead person before. Inferi were completely magical dead people, these zombie things were pure muggle, Harry didn't trust his wards one bit. It also didn't help that with the zombies and Ron dying Harry's PTSD had started showing its ugly face again meaning he refused to sleep encase he scared Teddy which was once thing he definitely didn't want to do.

Arriving at the hut they found it completely empty. Trying not to think the worst Harry used as much magic as he could to trace the little tiny bit of magic Daryl contained to trace his partner. Later on they came across a quarry that looked like it had been lived in not too long ago; Harry was hoping it wasn't just his wishful thinking, as there was evidence of a bonfire and a pile of bones and ashes that Harry was refusing to think about. Looking around Harry had come across a car with a map and a radio with note on for someone called Morgan telling them where to go if he made it here. Harry had stared long and hard at the car and then then looked down at Teddy and decided he needed that car if he was going to give Teddy a chance at survival. He left Morgan the map and radio attached to a tree and hoped the guy would still be safe.

This is where that had led up to, both him and Teddy trapesing through the woods following the tiny trace. Teddy fast asleep in his arms and Harry forcing himself to carry on walking that little bit further. The car had enough petrol to get them through the night, and he had managed to pick up some more petrol from a car on an abandoned farm but eventually it ran out completely forcing them to carry on, on foot.

A day later after Harry had had another sleepless night Teddy suddenly stopped, staring off into the trees, his brows scrunched in concentration.

"What d'ya hear cub?" Harry asked knowing what Teddy was doing. Being half werewolf meant he had much better hearing than anyone else.

"Someone cryin' dad, sounds like a little girl, we gotta go 'elp her dad" Teddy urged coming out of his gaze to tug on Harry's arm and direct him towards the girl. Running through the trees as quietly as they could they came across a little girl around the age of ten, he was rubbish at ages, being surrounded by three undead people. Harry quickly told Teddy to hide behind a nearby tree while he went and got the zombie things attentions.

"Hey come an' pick on someone your own size" Harry called out and immediately got their attention as they looked over at him and started to leave the girl alone, who seemed to be stood there in shock. Harry quickly pulled out his sword, the sword of Gryffindor, courtesy of Kingsley who understood that it did rightfully belong to Harry, and stood and waited until they came close enough. When they finally shuffled close enough he stabbed his sword into the closest one's head, then quickly turning and stabbing the seconds head. The third grabbed his other arm while his back was turned; Harry yanked his arm free and stabbed the third one in the head before it could get its teeth into him.

"Are they dead dad?" Teddy asked peering round from the tree gripping his stuffed wolf toy, Moony, in his hands.

"Yeah it's safe now cub" Harry soothed holding a hand out for Teddy who ran up to him and accepted the offered hand. Harry then turned back to the little girl who was now trembling and curled up against the tree she been backed up against.

"Hey there gone now sweetie, they can't harm you anymore" Harry told her softly as walked up to her slowly as not to startle her. The little girl looked up slowly her eyes scanning her surroundings and settled on the dead bodies on the ground. The trembling's of her body slowed down but her eyes stayed wide with fear.

"What's your name sweetie?" Harry asked trying to distract the little girl from the bodies in hopes of finally getting her to calm down so that they could work out where the rest of her group where, if there was any left Harry thought grimly.

"S-Sophia" The little girl stuttered looking up at Harry shyly.

"That's a pretty name" Harry complimented causing Sophia to blush slightly "Who where you with before those things chased you?"

"I-I was with my momma and some other people when a herd came through. We hid but a couple chased me, Rick went off to kill them and told me to head back to the group but I thought I heard some more and away but I got lost and some more chased me and now I don't know how to get back" Sophia cried, the trembling's returning to her body. Without realising Harry had pulled her into a hug and started soothing her to try and get her to calm down. Obviously exhausted from all the running Sophia promptly fell asleep in Harry's arms. Realising Sophia's crying probably caused a lot of noise Harry quickly stood up, well as quickly as he could with a kid in his arms, got Teddy to hold on to his free hand and left the area. Not too long later Harry realised they were going to have to find somewhere to set up camp as carrying a sleeping kid when you were exhausted yourself was tiring work, not that he'd be able to sleep but at least his arms could rest.

The next morning when they had all eaten some canned beans Harry had picked up from their house they set off in the direction of Daryl's trace, which was getting stronger which he hoped meant that he was getting closer. However the amount of energy it was taking out of him combined with how little sleep Harry's had the past week meant that he was struggling to carry on going any further, but Harry known for never giving up and he wasn't going to start now so he kept going. Sophia and Teddy had seemed to bond over the fact they were searching for their parents and were happily chatting away. Well Teddy was doing most of the talking but Sophia had a smile on her face so he counted that as a win. He was glad Teddy was making a friend god knows how hard they are going to come by nowadays. The smile's on the kids' faces helped Harry keep going that bit further.

Later on in the day Harry was finding it harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other and his eyes kept wanting to close no matter how hard he tried to keep them open. Daryl's trace was even stronger now and he was convinced that the family would be re united very soon which meant he wasn't going to stop till he found him. He could hear Teddy asking him if he was okay but his mouth refused to co-operate with him, he tried to tell Teddy he was fine but all he managed to do was open his mouth slightly before his legs buckled beneath him and the world turned black.

**Notes: **I know I shouldn't be starting another story but I got this in my head after reading some other Harry Potter and Walking dead crossovers. Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes: **Thank you so much for all the reviews, and to the people that are now following this story, I can't believe so many of you enjoyed it. Thanks to you all I wrote the next chapter that bit faster and have it finished already so thank you again and hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two:

"DAD" Teddy shouted seeing his dad collapse onto the floor. He crouched down next to his dad and started shaking his dads arm whilst shouting at him to wake up. His dad had to wake up, it wasn't night time yet and they are so close to finding his papa. He wasn't allowed to sleep, not yet, they haven't even put their tent up yet and he hadn't even cast the wards to stop the scary people from trying to attack them.

"Daddy pwease wake up, we gotta find papa" he cried, tears rolling down his face "Daddy pwease your scarwin' me" he sobbed.

"I think he's just sleeping, he does look really tired" Sophia told Teddy softly, crouching down next to him studying Harry. Teddy looked at his dads face and noticed big black blotches under his eyes; he also noticed how much whiter his face looked. When he really thought about it whenever he woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream his dad was always sat outside the tent looking out for the scary people. Teddy suddenly realised his dad can't have really slept since they came back to America because he was too busy looking after him. Teddy suddenly decided it was now time for him to look after his dad for a change; his dad deserved it after all.

"I need to go find my papa as he can help us look after my dad. Daddy told me we were really close so it can't be far" Teddy told Sophia with a determined look on his face.

"But you can't the walkers might get you, and what am I gonna do?" Sophia asked him looking scared, her eyes darting back between Teddy and Harry. Teddy looked at her, scrunching his face up in thought.

"You can look after daddy for me, you can make sure he knows where I've gone if he wakes up" Teddy told her smiling at her, happy he could help her know what to do.

"O-okay, be quick though, I don't know how to kill the walkers if they turn up" Sophia told him worryingly.

"Don't worry when papa comes he'll get them for us, he's really good at hunting" Teddy told her proudly, he loved watching his papa hunt, he wanted to be able to use a crossbow as good as his papa when he was older. His Papa might not be able to do magic like his daddy but he was still really cool. Making sure he had the knife on him that his daddy had given him with an unhappy look on his face, and making sure he promised to use it if the scary people were attacking him, Teddy kissed his daddy's forehead and carried on through the trees. After his daddy and Sophia were out of sight Teddy suddenly became very scared, every noise was a possible scary person coming to attack him but he had to carry on, daddy and Sophia were relying on him. Taking his knife out of his pocket and holding his it out in front of him like he'd seen his daddy do with his sword, Teddy took a deep breath and bravely carried on.

Twenty minutes later Teddy was debating whether to turn around or not, he couldn't go too far away, his daddy would probably panic when he woke and saw him gone, hopefully he wouldn't be too angry with him; he was looking for papa after all. Seeing a big field up ahead Teddy walked a bit faster, big fields usually meant farms, farms meant people, this had to be were papa was staying. Walking into the field he saw a farm house and smiled, hopefully papa was home. Just as he was about to run towards the house he saw someone stumbling through the fields and he heard a women shout 'walker'. Some more people began running towards the person with guns in their hands, Teddy began to panic, the person didn't sound like a scary person they weren't making the groany noises the other scary people made. The men got in front of the person and held their guns at the person.

"That's the third time ya pointed that thing a' ma head, ya gonna pull the trigger or what?" The person said in a voice Teddy would recognise anywhere. Looking at the person he realised he definitely recognised the person, they were covered in dirt but he would recognise that hair, face and voice anywhere.

"PAPA" Teddy called out to Daryl and began running towards his papa, tears already rolling down his.

* * *

Hearing someone call out 'Papa' Daryl turned round with a startled look on his face, he knew that voice. When his eyes landed on a little boy running towards him they widened in shock.

"Teddy" he whispered in disbelief. It couldn't be. They were in England they couldn't be here. But they were. His baby boy was back. Before he could process anymore a gun fire sounded and Daryl felt a piercing pain to his ear and he collapsed to the ground in pain.

"PAPA" Opening his eyes he felt someone shaking him awake and saw Teddy looking at him with a scared look on his face and tears rolling down his face. Seeing his son for the first in what felt like forever he pulled Teddy into a tight hug and buried his face in son's neck. He ignored the pain in his and side for the time being, he thought he was never going to see his son again so he wasn't going to let a little bit of pain stop him from hugging his son.

"Thought I was never gonna see ya 'gain" Daryl muffled into his sons neck, he didn't even care that his voice showed he was crying.

"Daryl you okay?" Rick asked "Who the hell is this?" Shane asked at the same time as Rick.

"'m fine an' he's ma son" Daryl murmured, wanting to be with son and not answering stupid questions.

"How the hell do you have a son, do ya even know how to look after a kid?" Shane scoffed causing Daryl to glare at him and hug Teddy that bit tighter. He hated it when people judged him by how he looked and the surname he has, yes he was a redneck and a Dixon but that doesn't mean he's anything like his dad, does it?

"Shane you can't say that" Rick scolded "Daryl why didn't you mention you had a son?" Rick asked turning back to Daryl. He'd always liked Rick, he may never understand his friendship with Shane but the guy was always fair and gave everyone a chance.

"Never came up, plus he was visitin' family in England with his dad when it 'appened s' thought I'd never see 'im 'gain" Daryl admitted looking down at Teddy who seemed content to just cling to his dad while still softly sobbing into Daryl's chest.

"Wait your gay?" Shane scoffed looking disgusted whilst Rick just looked shocked.

"Yeah what of it?" Daryl asked defensively, he should have known Shane would be disgusted by it but right now he couldn't care a less what Shane thought. He had his son back, Teddy and Harry had made it back to-

"Teddy where's your dad?" Daryl asked his son apprehensively realising he had yet to see Harry, he didn't like this; Harry would never let Teddy out of his sight, especially in times like this. The only reason why Teddy would be here by himself was a reason Daryl didn't want to think about right now. Teddy suddenly looked up at him in realisation and wide eyes.

"He's sleepin'. We were walkin' threw de tree's when he fell on the floor an' started sleepin'. Sophia lookin' after him though. I'll show you" Teddy told him whilst standing and trying to pull him up as well. All Daryl could think about though was why Harry had collapsed, he hope Harry hadn't gone back to the bad to the bad state he was in when they first met. He wouldn't blame him if he had though; the way the world is now must have triggered a lot of bad memories for his partner.

Finally standing up with a grimace in pain Daryl let Teddy lead him to Harry. Trying to ignore the fact that the rest of the group had now caught up with Rick and Shane, and were all following him and Teddy, bombarding the men with questions. He was nearly shaking in anticipation of finally being able to see his partner again. They would finally be able to be a family again, something he thought he had lost forever.

Reaching the area Daryl swears his heart nearly stopped. His partner was sprawled on the floor being looked after by Sophia, two people he thought to have failed. Coming back to his senses Daryl rushed over to Harry's side ignoring the group's gasps of surprise at seeing Sophia, and Sophia's cry of joy at seeing Carol. All Daryl was worried about was his partner.

Studying Harry now brought back memories of when he first met Harry wondering through the woods with Teddy in a carrier attached to his back, looking lost and confused and completely exhausted. He looked far too pale for Daryl's liking and he wondered how much Harry had gone through to get here. Daryl stroked Harry's hair out of his face and kissed his forehead before picking Harry up bridal style, he had always been way to light, probably no thanks to his childhood Daryl thought darkly.

"Is he gonna be 'kay papa?" Teddy asked Daryl whilst biting his bottom lip in worry.

"He's gonna be fine squirt ya dad's jus' tired himself out s'all" Daryl reassured him, hoping he was speaking the truth.

"Whoa how'd he get a sword like that?" Glenn gasped seeing Harry's sword lying on the ground. Picking it up Glenn admired the sword and run his hands along the blade in awe.

"It's a family heirloom and he's pretty protective over it so I'd put I' in the bag an' give I' here if I were ya" Daryl growled, hating it when people started nosing in his families stuff. Glenn startled at Daryl's response quickly did as he was told, muttering an apology as he went.

After all their stuff was picked up the group made their way back to the farm, Teddy clinging to Daryl's side, whilst Carol and Rick were constantly apologising to an overwhelmed Sophia. Half way there Rick seemed to calm down and remember that Daryl was carrying Harry despite the he was injured and offered to carry Harry for him. Daryl refused though, he was used to working through pain and he wasn't letting Harry go no matter how stupid it sounded.

After what felt like an eternity to Daryl but in actual fact was only about twenty minutes they made it back to the farm. Hershel was quick to usher them into one of the spare bedrooms where he was able to lie Harry down on the bed. Quickly assessing Harry Hershel was quick to diagnose Harry with simple exhaustion. Knowing that all Harry needed was sleep Daryl allowed Hershel to tend to his own wounds which needed a few stitches. Once he was fixed up Daryl sat down next to Harry, grabbed one his hands in his own and simply watched him sleep whilst Teddy slept next to Harry, ignoring Hershel's protests about going to sleep himself in his own bed.

Eventually Daryl got Hershel to leave saying he would call him if anything changed, was it really too much to ask to have some peace and quiet with his family? In the privacy of the room Daryl finally allowed more tears of joy and sorrow to roll down his face at being reunited with his partner, he just wished he didn't look so broken. Daryl was going to fix that. He would make sure of it.

* * *

An hour later after she had finally exhausted all her tears at finding her daughter Carol decided to see how Daryl was holding up. The guy had always seemed guarded and distant before, but Carol now realises he was just mourning a family he thought to be dead, or at least never to be seen again. Carol can't imagine what that must have felt like, Sophia had only been missing a few days and she had fallen to pieces, Daryl's family had been missing for weeks.

Reaching the door Carol hesitated, she didn't want to invade their privacy but she just needed to know they were okay. Daryl had risked his life for her daughter, and by the sounds of it his partner had to, she was forever in their debt. Upon opening the door Carol's heart swelled at the sight she saw. Daryl was curled up to his partner's side, one arm reaching across to reach his son who was curled up to his dads other side. They looked like the perfect happy family; Carol had never missed a camera more. Quietly shutting the door so not to disturb the sleeping family, Carol left with a smile on her face.

**Notes: **let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes: **thank you to everyone who has reviewed and now following this story; I can't believe how many of you like this story so thank you again. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.

After much coaxing from Carol Daryl finally managed to pull himself away from Harry to get some much needed fresh air, despite the grumbles he gave about being fine, he didn't care that he'd been sat in the same position for hours. He still couldn't walk far with the stitches but he did have to admit sitting outside with the sun on his face did feel good. He wasn't going to tell Carol that though, he didn't need her smirking and saying 'I told you so', nope he was keeping this to himself. Living the life Daryl led he wasn't one to be cooped up inside for too long before needing to get outside. Although now that he was outside all he wanted to do was be back inside beside Harry, he just needed to sit here a little longer and then he could say he'd been out here a decent amount of time.

Looking over at Teddy though Daryl couldn't help but smile at the sight that he saw. Even in times like this his son managed to find friends and make the best of a very bad situation. He was sat down with Carl and Sophia talking their ears off, not that it looked like either of them minded. They all had massive grins on their faces obviously finding whatever the youngest one said very funny, probably some over exaggerated story about their family adventures in the woods if he knew his son. Daryl was relieved Teddy was happy, he had been worried that his son wouldn't be able to cope with how the world was now and just be one very frightened boy. Looking over at him now though Daryl could see that he was able to keep a little bit of innocence about him, for how much longer though Daryl wasn't sure. He knew that if the world stayed how it was Teddy would have to grow up far sooner than any parent would want their child to, but he hoped that it wouldn't change his son completely. Daryl was still getting used to calling Teddy his son, he may not have signed any papers to make it official but Teddy called him Papa and he had to admit that Daryl had thought of Teddy as his son for years.

When Teddy first called Daryl Papa he had to admit he freaked out a little bit after, he had been convinced, still is slightly now, that he wouldn't be a good enough father to Teddy. He hadn't had a very good role model exactly, but Harry sat him down and told him how he had already been looking after Teddy like a son and he had been doing a great job. Now Daryl was slightly more convinced that he was doing alright now but he still doubted himself sometimes, but then I guess every parent does he muses.

Daryl was brought out of his thoughts by a loud noise, which he associated with someone screaming. Looking around he saw that it wasn't coming from any of the children and then realised it was coming from the room Harry was in.

"Shit" he muttered realising it meant that Harry was having a nightmare, a bad one if the volume of the screams was anything to go by. Racing out of his chair Daryl runs as fast as he can to Harry's room, not caring that he's probably putting a lot of strain on his stitches.

Reaching Harry's room Daryl immediately sits in the chair by Harry's bed and starts calling his name, trying to coax him out of the nightmare. Daryl doesn't dare touch Harry as much as he wants to knowing it will just make the nightmare worse. All Daryl can do is talk to his partner and hope he can hear him and wake up. Hearing everyone else enter the room he ignores all the questions about what the hell is going on and focuses on trying to wake up his distressed partner. He doesn't worry about Teddy either knowing his son will stay out of the room as he never likes seeing his dad this way, not that Daryl does either.

One bad thing about not paying any attention to the other people in the room is that he misses Shane walk into the room with a cup of cold water in his hand. This means he misses any chance he had of stopping Shane from throwing that cold water over his partners face in an attempt to wake him up, causing Harry's nightmare to become ten times worse.

* * *

_It's strangling him…_

_It's tightened itself around his neck….._

_Can't breathe…_

_Can't get it off…_

_No matter how hard he pulls it away from his neck it just tightens even more….._

_Losing…air…. Been frozen in the pond for too long now…._

_Fingers to numb to grab hold of the necklace…_

_Drowning….._

_Keeps… getting tighter….._

_Chains too… tight….._

_Going to die in frozen lake…._

_Drifting further down….._

_Can't pull the necklace off anymore….._

_It's won._

_No oxygen….left….._

* * *

"Harry please…. Ya gotta wake up….. 's jus' a dream…. Please, ya not there anymore…. Teddy needs ya… I need ya" Daryl pleaded not caring anymore how he sounded. Harry was now clawing at his neck, Daryl wasn't sure he was even breathing properly anymore. Shane the fucking bastard had pulled Harry even further into the nightmare and Daryl was helpless to do anything encase he made things worse. Shane wouldn't know what hit him after Daryl was finished with him he thought darkly.

After more pleading and begging Harry eventually gasps awake sitting bolt upright, panic stricken all over his face, and choking on his air.

"Harry ya safe, look at me ya fine" Daryl told Harry softly making Harry's eyes dart over to him and he saw the relief flood into them when they landed on him.

"Daryl?" Harry croaked seeming a bit disorientated.

"'m here, ya fine now jus' breathin' properly" Daryl soothed. Knowing he was now safe to do so Daryl reached over and grabbed Harry's hand, rubbing his thumb over it in a soothing motion hoping it would help Harry relax.

"What the bloody hell was all that about?" Shane asked rudely causing Harry to jump as if he had only just realised there was more people in the room.

"Out all o' ya, yav done enough damage as it is" Daryl growled loudly causing everyone to come out there shock and slowly leave the room. Rick quietly apologised looking genuinely ashamed for what happened and shoved a protesting Shane out of the room. Carol come over and placed a comforting hand on Daryl's shoulder for a second before leaving the room with the rest of the group.

"Daryl?" Harry asks again, this time his hand reaching out and touching Daryl's cheek.

"'m here hon" Daryl replied softly placing his free hand on Harry's cheek as well.

"How.. I don't…you…I?" Harry stumbled obviously confused about everything, now realising Daryl was truly here.

"Hey calm down 's 'kay" Daryl reassured "ya collapsed, exhausted ya'self ya daft prat. Teddy found me, ya'd nearly made I' back but Teddy took me to ya and I brought ya back here" Daryl told him gently, not wanting to overload his partner with information.

"You mean I finally found you?" Harry whispered eyes wide and glistening in shock.

"Ya sure did" Daryl's eyes were also glistening now seeing the pure and utter love in Harry's eyes after realising he had finally got his whole family back.

"I thought I'd lost you" Harry choked, tears now rolling down his face.

"But ya didn't so stop cryin' an' kiss me" Daryl told Harry playfully, wiping the tears from his face with his thumb, and then leaning towards Harry's face. Harry needed no further telling as he leant forward to meet Daryl's lips, both colliding in a desperate kiss, both trying to reassure themselves the other is really there.

"It really is you" Harrys pants finally breaking away from the kiss.

"Well I'm hopin' ya wouldn't so readily be kissin' anybody else, I don' do sharin'" Daryl jokes. Seeing that Harry is already struggling to keep his eyes open Daryl gently pushes Harry back down onto the pillow and strokes Harry's cheek.

"Go back to sleep hon, I'll try and make sure Teddy make sure Teddy's here when ya wake" Daryl soothes knowing Harry still needs more sleep after that nightmare.

"Love you" Harry whispers eyes already closing. After watching Harry sleep for a while and making sure he was in a deep sleep Daryl kissed Harry on the lips once more and set off to have some strong words with some group members, one in particular.

Hearing that everyone was in the dining room Daryl storms over to the room and immediately notices Shane. Daryl walks right up to Shane and punches him straight in the jaw causing Shane to stumble backwards. Everyone in the room had gone silent watching the scene unfold, Daryl smirks gleefully noticing no one had gone to back up Shane.

"What the fuck d'ya think ya playin at?" Daryl shouts at Shane, his blood boiling just from looking at the guy. The guy didn't even look guilty, just annoyed that he'd got punched in the jaw.

"What ya on about man, I was just tryin' to wake the guy up" Shane defends, holding his jaw in pain.

"By chucking water over him? Harry was havin' a bloody nightmare, all ya did was make it worse. Did ya not see 'im try an' rip his throat out?" Daryl fumes, he couldn't believe this guy, anyone else in his position would be apologising right now.

"The guys crazy, he's gonna be a bloody alarm to all walkers that there's fresh meat for them to have right here, he can't stay" Shane replies looking around the room for back up. Daryl looks around as well to see some of the others looking at the floor uncomfortably. Daryl growls when he realises nobody seems completely objected to what Shanes saying.

"Look he's not crazy 'kay, he was caught up in those terrorist attacks 'n England a few years back. His family was a' the centre of it so he got hit pretty bad. He'd got better but this has brought I' all back. Once he's caught up on his sleep he should be fine, I promise" Daryl practically begs, not even ashamed at how desperate he sounds. He needs the group to understand that Harrys not crazy, although if it comes to it he's prepared to take Harry and Teddy and go fend for themselves.

"That's awful man but he's still a danger to the group, ya gotta see that, I don't see how he can stay" Shane tells Daryl not looking the least bit sorry about what he was saying.

Just he was about to give an angry reply he notices Harry standing warily in the doorway, teddy on his hip, and Sophia and Carl standing awkwardly next to him. He can see the anger radiating off of Harry in waves, his eyes are fixed on Shane looking murderous, even Daryl was slightly afraid of that look and it wasn't even aimed at him.

"One nightmare and I'm out is that it, like none of you have ever had a nightmare in the past few weeks" Harry growls, his eyes never leaving Shane wasn't stupid enough to look away but Daryl did catch him slightly cower.

"I'm just looking out for my group man ya gotta understand that" Shane bravely replies clearly not wanting to back down, Shane had it out for Harry and Daryl wasn't sure why exactly. He did have one theory but he was hoping that Shane wasn't trying to kick them out over it.

"Oh I understand about looking at for your group alright but surely you need more to go on than on than what you just saw because the way I look at it you're the reason it turned so bad" Harry shot back and then carefully placed Teddy on the ground and whispering for him to go play with Carl and Sophia in the other room before turning back to Shane.

"Are you really going to kick a family out over something that you turned worse?" Harry added walking closer to Shane who had now folded his arms and glared at Harry, obviously still refusing to see what he had done.

"Look I'm sorry man but how do we know it's not going to happen again?" Shane replied looking the tiniest bit regretful but now enough to look any bit apologetic.

"And does everybody else agree with you?" Harry asked looking around at the rest of the group who were still keeping unusually quiet. Daryl fumed at all their faces, noticing that they all looked undecided. Daryl couldn't believe they were even contemplating this, he thought they were his friends, friends wouldn't do this, they would give people a chance. It had been one nightmare for god's sake, a loud one he had to admit but Harry was getting better, one more night and he should be back to normal, surely they could give him that?

"Ya bastards" Daryl shouted at all the group, he couldn't believe them, he had trusted these people, risked his life them and it looked like they were just going to chuck his family out without even giving them a chance.

**Notes: **Just to warn you, I know I made Harry's nightmare seem quite bad but like it mentioned in the chapter Harry will start improving once his exhaustion and magic levels gets better. Harry will still have slight PTSD symptoms in the future but they won't as bad as they seem now. Anyway let me know what you thought of the chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry looked around the room in anger he couldn't believe that the group would so easily follow Shane like a bunch of lost sheep. They were all just sat there with their heads down and staring at their hands in shame causing Harry's fury to grow.

"They saved my baby we can't send them away" Carol whispered into her hands, refusing to look up at the group and Harry could hear the worry in her voice. She obviously wasn't used to speaking out in front of people but Harry was glad she had. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile show her how appreciated he was with her statement. He was glad someone was on his side showing that they weren't completely outvoted.

"Carol's right they've both risked their lives for this group, I think we owe it to them to give Harry another chance. It's the least we can do" Rick said looking up at Harry guiltily. Harry didn't know what to make of Rick, one minute he seemed to be a level headed leader of the group, the next he's shying away and letting a hot headed Shane take over, it didn't make sense. Shane and Rick were two completely different people yet they were supposed to be best friends apparently, Harry really couldn't see it.

"Ya can't be serious Rick the guy may have saved Sophia but we can't risk the lives of the whole group to show our thanks" Shane replied angrily and Harry clenched his hands in anger. He hadn't known this group for long but one thing he knew for sure was that Shane had quickly made into Harry's book of people he didn't trust. Shane seemed to be someone who didn't bother giving anyone second chances and that is something that through his life Harry's realised everyone deserves a chance at. Another thing he's learnt is to not judge people from what you think you know, Snape had shown him that but Shane was sure testing his limits on that one considering Teddy was involved in this disagreement.

"Remind me to never save ya ass if a walkers 'bout to take a chunk outta I'" Daryl muttered whilst staring at Shane and Harry couldn't help but chuckle at his partners statement and nod his head in agreement. Despite Harry's hero complex Shane definitely wouldn't be the first person he would save. Whether he would if he was the only one needing saving he wasn't sure. Harry wasn't sure if would be able to live with himself if he did as much as it pained himself to admit it. Knocking Shane down a peg or to he would be able to live with though.

"I think all of you are forgetting something here" Hershel's voice broke through the silence as he entered the room from the kitchen, breaking the staring competition going on between Daryl and Shane. "You're all forgetting that it's my land you're all staying on, so that makes it my choice whether Harry and his family stay or not" Hershel added rather angrily which made Harry wonder whether Hershel even liked this group or not, he would have to question Daryl about it later. At the moment though he was more worried about whether he and his family were going to have somewhere to sleep tonight.

"Do we gotta move again daddy? I like it here, we got somewhere to sleep and I's got friends and there's lots o' nice an'mals to. I don't wanna leave daddy" Teddy cried sadly walking back into the room hugging Moony tightly. His son had obviously been able to hear the conversation despite being in the other room. It was times like this that Harry wished Teddy didn't have such good hearing.

"Don't worry son you don't have to leave just yet. Your dad needs at least a couple more days rest before I'll be happy about letting you all leave" Hershel smiled down at Teddy. Hershel had said the words with such finality that Harry knew he was staying for the time being and that Shane had lost his argument.

Despite being happy that he was staying and didn't have to worry about finding a new place just yet, Harry couldn't help but feel like there was still more arguments to come. Something he wished wouldn't happen considering he was still getting his energy back. Harry wanted nothing more than to curl up in front of the TV and snuggle up on the couch with his two favourite boys, oh how he missed those times.

"Thank you Hershel I appreciate it" Harry thanked Hershel and picked up his son hugging him close in comfort. "I'm sorry you feel like I'm a danger to the group but I promise you what you saw earlier was me at my worst, I'm usually pretty good at holding my own in a fight. Oh and just as a warning never chuck water on me while I'm asleep" Harry told the rest of the group, swiftly walking out the room heading outside onto the porch and sitting down on a chair with Teddy in his lap.

* * *

Daryl glared at his so called group, he would be forever thankful to Hershel for letting his family stay. He couldn't believe his group had almost let him leave after all he had done for the group over one poxy nightmare. He would remember this next time one of them got too loud in their sleep. Looking over at Carol he gave her a nod of gratitude knowing she had stuck up for them, he was glad someone had. He knows technically Rick did to but he couldn't help but feel annoyed that it took Carol speaking out for him to as well. Surely he could handle Shane, the guy was a jerk, he didn't even know how Rick could put up with him.

Standing up he turned to leave and find his family, he couldn't stay in the room any longer without punching someone else in the jaw.

"Daryl I'm sorry, I really do hope you're able to stay" Rick tells him with such a puppy dog look on his face that it makes Daryl angry.

"Yeah well it's a bit late in sayin' it now the damage is done, I know we're no' wan'ed here but I can't take ma family away from somewhere safe so ya stuck with us for the moment" Daryl growled, he wished there was somewhere else safe to go but there wasn't, it looked like his family was staying for the time being. He had been starting to feel like part of the group but that had quickly been shattered, not that he would change anything, he had his family back that's all that he needed. It was all he had ever needed.

Walking out to the porch he saw Harry sat on the chair that he'd been on this morning with Teddy curled up on his lap fast asleep. Harry looked up hearing Daryl enter and gave him a strained smile.

"Think the emotional whirlwind of a day has worn him out" harry told him stroking his sons hair fondly. Daryl walked up behind Harry's chair and rested his hands on his partner's shoulders seeking comfort from it causing a sigh of relief to escape his mouth when he found it.

Harry must have sensed what Daryl had been thinking because next thing he knew Harry had stood up, adjusted Teddy in his arm, walked round to Daryl and rested his free hand on Daryl's cheek.

"Hey we're gonna be fine love, Hershel's given us two more days, that's more than enough time to prove that I'm more than a walker dinner alarm" Harry told him softly pecking him on the lips and resting his head on Daryl's chest. Daryl pulled Harry closer and wrapped both his arms round his partner's slim waist, careful not to squish Teddy too much. In that moment Daryl vowed to do whatever it takes to protect these two most important people in his life. Well three if he ever found his stupid ass of a brother. Right now though with Harry and Teddy in his arms, Daryl wished he could live in this moment for as long as possible.

**Notes: **sorry it's a bit shorter than the other chapters but it seemed like a good place to end it. Let me know what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes: **Thank you for all the lovely comments and people who have favourited, commented and now following this story, it makes it so much easier to write knowing so many of you are enjoying the story. You will be glad to hear the chapters are back to their normal length. Hope you enjoy!

Just realised I haven't this yet… oops… but I don't own anything to do with The Walking Dead or Harry Potter sadly.

* * *

Harry groggily wakes up to a pair of strong, muscular arms pulling him closer to their warm chest. Startled Harry turns around in the embrace and comes face to face with a sleeping Daryl, causing Harry to let out a breath he hadn't even realised he had been holding and settles back into the embrace.

For the first time in a long time Harry had slept the night without having any major nightmares. Yes, he had woken up to Daryl soothing him when he was having a bad dream, but he hadn't had any major nightmare with him screaming, only whimpers. Sleeping in Daryl's arms had always helped sooth him in his sleep.

When people had told him sleeping in someone's arms helped get rid of nightmares he had always laughed it off never quite believing it, but Daryl had proved him wrong.

Looking over at Daryl sleeping Harry couldn't help but move Daryl's hair out of his face and rest a hand on Daryl's cheek. He still couldn't quite believe he had slept the night in Daryl's arms; it was something he had only dreamed about these past few weeks in hopes of calming him down enough to rest when sleep had become imminent. Studying Daryl's face he could see dark patches under his eyes and realised Daryl can't have been sleeping well either, Harry didn't really know how anyone could at the moment though to be honest. Threats were to close for comfort for anyone to truly feel safe to sleep.

"I got summin' on ma face?" A groggy Georgian voice asked. Breaking out of his thoughts Harry noticed that dark blue eyes were now staring back at him in a teasing way.

"Morning love" Harry replied to a smirking Daryl and pecked him on the lips. Daryl clearly had other ideas though and Harry was pulled closer towards him, his lips connected to Daryl's in a much deeper kiss than the first. Harry was quite content to Daryl take control of the kiss, he was happy with reacquainting himself with Daryl's mouth. His tongue was inspecting every part of Daryl's mouth making sure nothing had changed in his absence.

A small moan escaped Harry's mouth when he felt calloused fingers sliding under his top and running themselves along his back, causing him to shiver. Needing the same kind of contact Harry did the same to Daryl and smiled into the kiss when he managed to get a moan out of Daryl as well. He could never get enough of Daryl's lips, to him they were heavenly. Needing more Harry removed his hands from Daryl's back and carded them through Daryl's hair pulling him even closer so that their bodies were practically one.

"Ewww gross, daddy papa no"

Harry immediately pulled away from Daryl feeling his cheeks turn red with a blush. He couldn't believe he had forgotten to put a silencing spell over them, he blamed Daryl for that, he was distracting as hell. Looking over at Teddy he couldn't help chuckling at the sight he saw. Teddy had his nose scrunched up in disgust and had put both his hands over his eyes to shield them from the view.

"Sorry cub" Harry apologised while sending a glare to Daryl when he heard him sniggering at their son.

"Is it safe now, have you stopped?" Teddy asked warily, his hands still firmly placed over his eyes.

"Don' worry squirt it's safe" Daryl chuckled still laughing at their sons antics.

"Good" Teddy replied and spread his fingers out over his face so he could peek through them, obviously not trusting his papa to tell the truth. Seeing that they were telling the truth Teddy removed his hands from his face and bundles over to his parents plonking himself across their laps.

"Is it bweakfast time yet 'm hungry?" Teddy asked looking up to his parents from where he was sprawled across them with a grin.

"Go get changed and we can see what everyone's rummaged up" Harry replied ruffling his sons hair.

"'kay" Teddy said already climbing off them to go find his clothes, nearly tripping over the sleeping bags in his eagerness.

* * *

Emerging from their tent Harry noticed that everybody else was already up and ready for the day meaning they must have slept in, Harry didn't remember the last time that had happened.

"Hey guys you want some fruit?" Glenn asked walking over to them carrying what looked like basket of fruit.

"Yes pwease" Teddy replied eagerly, his hand in the basket before Glenn had even properly crouched down to his level.

"Slow down cub the baskets not going anywhere" Harry laughed at his son "Thanks Glenn, you sleep well?" Harry asked politely while he and Daryl picked some fruit from the basket. Glenn immediately tensed up at the question which Harry found weird considering it was a simple enough question.

"I slept fine, why wouldn't I? Nothing happened last night" Glenn replied instantly looking worried and uncomfortable and immediately hurried off before Harry could say anything.

"Well that was odd" Harry said to Daryl not knowing how else to describe it.

"C'n say 'at 'gain" Daryl muttered whilst eating his apple which didn't look very charming, but Harry had gotten used to Daryl's little quirks and Harry wouldn't change him for anything. He just shakes his head and smiles fondly at his partner who just gave him a confused look in return.

Glancing over at the rest of the group Harry noticed one of Hershel's daughters, Maggie possibly, glaring over at Glenn who was looking conflicted back at her. Something had obviously happened between them last night as they hadn't seemed like that yesterday. Although he had only been here just over a day so he might have missed something.

"Can I go play with Carl and Sophia daddy?" Harry looked over at his son and saw him looking up at him, still munching on the apple Glenn had given him.

"Once you've finished your apple cub" Harry told his Teddy "but don't rush it, I don't want you choking on it" Harry added seeing Teddy go to shove a big bit of apple in his mouth, and then immediately goes and takes a smaller bite hearing his dad's words.

* * *

Harry and Daryl spent most of the morning relaxing in their tent while some the group were out being taught how to use guns, something Harry had been trained to use since he was had felt it vital he learn muggle means of defense encase he ever lost his gun, something he was extremely grateful for now.

Lori and Carol had told them they'd look after the kids as apparently Daryl and him needed time to heal and re-cooperate. He wasn't really complaining though considering it meant he had been allowed time to relax in his partners presence and catch up on missed time. As much as he wanted to go further than the few heated kisses they had shared he knew that Daryl wasn't healed enough for that. He was happy to just lie in his arms and just talk about what had happened since they last saw each other before it all happened anyway.

After a few hours Harry's bladder decided to become a nuisance so he left the tent to go relieve himself and spotted an angry Maggie shouting at a shocked Lori. Seeing Maggie storm off Harry cautiously approached Lori.

"Are you okay?" Lori looked over at Harry with pained eyes.

"I- yeah I'm fine" Lori replied trying to sound composed but Harry saw right through it considering he's done the same plenty of times before.

"Are you sure because you look like someone who's fighting a war between themselves, and I'm guessing it has something to do with what Maggie's just said to you" Harry told her, he didn't want to pry but Lori looked like she really needed someone to talk to and Harry had always been a good listener, or so he had been told.

Lori stared back at him for a few moments seeming to debate whether to let Harry in on the battle going in inside her head. Seeing her shoulders sag Harry guessed he was about to find out what it was.

"I-I'm pregnant"

Well that wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

Hearing the sadness in her voice Harry could tell she wasn't exactly happy about it and honestly Harry couldn't blame her. This isn't exactly the best time to raise a child, let alone a baby.

"Does Rick know?" Harry asked her knowing Rick was probably the best person Lori needed to talk to considering it concerned him as well.

"No and he can't know, not yet anyway, I don't even know whether I'm keeping it" Lori told him, her voice barely above a whisper when she said the last part, and Harry sighed feeling sorry for the poor women. He could tell she wanted the baby just from the amount of pain he could see in her eyes, but he knew this was no place for a baby. However he also knew that they should give the baby a chance, he was glad he wasn't the one having to make the final decision.

"Is it what Maggie was shouting to you about?"

"Yeah- Glenn went on a run for me, Maggie went with him and found out… s-she bought back abortion p-pills" Lori told him nearly crying causing Harry to pull her into a hug, grateful for the practice he had handling crying women from growing up with Hermione and Ginny. Harry just held Lori letting her cry it all out knowing she wouldn't be able to bottle this all up without doing something she would regret later. Once she had cried it all out Harry pulled her away slightly so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Well I believe the baby deserves a chance, but I also understand that this isn't the ideal time to raise a baby either. Whatever you choose though I think you should decide with Rick" Harry tells her softly knowing she probably wouldn't tell Rick straight away, but he hopes she will soon, the man deserves to know.

After a few moments Lori breaks away from the embrace with a small smile on her face.

"Thank you, I'll tell Rick soon I will, I just need to sort it out in my head first" Lori tells him looking a lot better than she did a few minutes ago. He gives Lori a small reassuring smile and walks away towards the tree's before his bladder finally decides to burst.

Heading back towards the tent Harry notices Daryl in conversation with Carol, Glenn and Dale and walks over towards them. Once he's got to the group Harry wraps an arm around Daryl's waist and kisses the side of his head causing a slight blush to appear on Daryl's cheeks.

"Daddy Papa!" Teddy shouts and the pair immediately turn around and spot Teddy, Carl and Sophia running towards them looking scared. His body immediately goes on defense mode looking for any signs of danger, feeling Daryl's body tense he knows his partners done the same thing.

"What is it cub?" Harry asks worriedly looking Teddy and the others over for any sign of injury, seeing none he calms down slightly, not completely though, not till he knows what's happened.

"There's lots of growls and moans comin' from inside the barn, sounded like those scary people we keeps runnin' from" Teddy informs him looking scared and keeps looking back at Carl and Sophia who both looked scared as well. Harry's heart starts thumping in his chest, walkers in the barn? How the hell had none them realised or noticed that before?

Hearing a sharp intake of breath coming from someone in the group Harry looks round to see Glenn looking shocked and paler than he did a minute ago. Guess he's just found out why Glenn was acting so weird this morning, he'd figured out the Greene's big secret Harry reckons.

**Notes: **As always let me know what think.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes: **Just a quick warning that there is some homophobic language in this chapter, not a lot but I thought I should warn you before you read the chapter.

* * *

On hearing a sharp intake of breath Daryl swirls around to see Glenn standing there stiff as a rock and as pale as a ghost.

"Ya got summin' ya wanna tell us?" Daryl asks gruffly, not liking that something dangerous was kept from everybody.

"I-I was gonna tell you, I was! But M-Maggie didn't want me to s-so I was gonna tell you tonight when they'd all turned in for the night" Glenn spluttered nervously under Daryl's intense stare. Deep down he was smirking over the fact that he managed to get Glenn so nervous just from staring at him. Right now though; he had more important things to be thinking about, like what the hell to do about the barn full of walkers.

"What the hell was he thinkin', he crazy or summin'?" Daryl muttered dangerously. Didn't the man know how stupid and dangerous all this is, they could escape at any moment right outside their own back door. Why would you keep them? His son hadn't been that far from there and Daryl didn't dare think about what could have happened if one of them had gotten free.

Anger was bubbling under his skin and he had a sudden urge to take out his crossbow and clean out the barn. Nobody harms his family. Absolutely nobody.

"Look I'll go talk to Hershel there must be a reason behind all of this. For now though we keep this between ourselves, we don't want to be causing a massive scene before we have all the details" Harry said calmly, always the voice of reason.

Harry may have sounded calm but his eyes gave away his true emotion, they displayed the true anger that was festering inside of his partner. Daryl respected Harry's ability to control his emotions, something Daryl had always tried to do. Anger was the one emotion he found the hardest to control though, especially when something had happened to his family.

"Can I tell my parents though, I don't want to lie to them" Carl asked worriedly, looking at Harry with pleading eyes. Daryl could tell he was apprehensive about keeping this to himself, and he wondered how long this was going to last before the rest found out. They would tell Rick and the others soon but they needed to find out everything first before Shane found out, otherwise there was going to be fireworks.

"Not just yet Carl. I want to talk to Hershel first to find out what's going on. That way you can tell you parents all the details rather than just part of it. Is that okay?" Harry asked Carl who looked like he didn't really like that answer but nodded his head anyway.

Turning to face Harry he received a quick kiss on the cheek and was then left to face the aftermath of the outburst on his own. Great.

Feeling a tug on his leg he looked down to see Teddy pulling on his trouser leg with tears pooling in his eyes, and his teeth biting his bottom lip. Sensing his sons worry he crouched down on to one knee and pulled him into a hug. Teddy then latched onto Daryl and buried his head into his shoulder.

"Hey what's up Ted?" Daryl whispered into his son's ear softly. Daryl hated it when Teddy cried, it immediately got him worried that he was doing something wrong, or he'd been neglecting his son somehow. Despite the amount of times Harry has told him he's doing fine he can always hear his father's voice in the back of his head telling him he is a no good faggot who's going to mess up everything good in his life. Being told that every day for a good 16 years has made it hard to ignore and forget, those words have been cemented into his mind, and Harry has been desperately trying to shovel them out. He was getting there. Slowly. Cement was hard to remove after all.

"Did I say somethin' w'ong? Ev'yone seems angry at me" Teddy asked quietly, his voice trembling and Daryl could hear that Teddy honestly believed he was the cause of everyone's anger, and that makes him all the angrier at the Greene's.

"Hey no Teddy look at me" Daryl told Teddy sternly, he needed him to see the honesty in his words. Seeing Teddy look up at him with watery eyes he carried on. "Ya did nothin' wrong okay, in fact what ya did was very good, ya helped keep us safe, no one's angry at ya I need ya to understand that ya hear me?" Daryl could see that Teddy was staring back at him searching for any signs that meant Daryl wasn't telling the truth. When he found none he gave a wobbly nod of the head in approval, Daryl pulled his son back into a tight hug and kissed his head.

"I'm not angry at you either Teddy, neither's Carl" Sophia told Teddy quietly who looked over at Sophia with a little smile on his face. He then pulled himself out of Daryl's grip and walked over to his new friends.

"Can I go play papa?" Teddy asked Daryl who had obviously got over his sadness already and Daryl had to chuckle at how quickly children's emotions changed. If only adults could get over things just as quickly then the world would be a much happier place.

"Sure but stay close by, and don' go anywhere near the barn"

"Okay papa" Teddy replied happily already wondering over to the tents with Carl and Sophia. Daryl watched them for a few more seconds and then turned back to the rest of the group who were all staring at the ground. Obviously none of them had got over the fact of there being walkers in the barn as quickly as the children had. Not that Daryl had either, they've all been sleeping near the barn and it turns out danger had literally been lurking round the corner. He's definitely not going to be sleeping quite so easily anymore, and he had been enjoying getting more than just a few hours these past couple of days as well.

"What do you think Hershel's going to say?" Carol asked the group causing Daryl to ponder her question. He had been too busy being angry about the fact that Hershel hadn't mentioned it that he hadn't really thought about why he had done it. What possible reason did he have for keeping a bunch of walkers in his barn? Surely it just causes a constant danger to them. Hershel may have seemed like a bit of a jerk sometimes but he was generally an okay guy considering he was constantly patching one of them up. Now though, now Daryl didn't know what to think.

"Dunno but he better have a bloody good reason for it" Daryl grumbled when no one else seemed to offer a response to the question, too lost in their own thoughts by the looks of it. Not that Daryl blamed them one bit, who would have thought that for the last week or so they had been sleeping near a barn full of walkers? It didn't bare thinking about; every time he did it caused his fingers to clench into a fist and wanting to knock some sense into Hershel. Daryl just prayed that Harry was able to talk to Hershel and come to some kind of agreement; surely the man would understand how dangerous it all was?

Before Daryl could really think about it all he heard a loud roar of anger that sounded a lot like Shane and looked over to see that man talking to Lori, Carl, Sophia and Teddy.

Well Shit.

Looks like Harry's time is up. Daryl ran towards to the kids to see Carl in tears and the others not far behind. Scooping Teddy up into a hug Daryl ruffled Carl's hair to show the kid that he wasn't angry with him; it had been a bit unfair on them to expect Carl to keep the secret from his parents anyway. They were all going to find out eventually anyway but he just wishes it could have come out in a less shocking way.

Hearing raised voices coming from the barn Daryl puts Teddy down giving him a quick kiss on the forehead and makes him promise to stay where they are next to Lori and Carl. Giving Lori a look that says he'll explain later he runs into the stable to see if Harry was okay.

Upon entering the barn Daryl immediately sees red.

Shane has Harry pinned up against the wall. In a blind fury Daryl immediately races over the pair and tears Shane away from Harry. Shane immediately retaliates by punching Daryl in the face causing him to stumble backwards. Expecting the move Daryl recovers quickly and gets a punch in of his own which Shane doesn't expect and is knocked to the ground.

"You okay?" Daryl asks walking over to harry, his eyes raking all over Harrys body looking for any sign of injury, seeing none his heart stops beating quite so fast. Daryl couldn't understand why Shane had gone for Harry. Hershel he could understand, the man had kept a secret that could have killed everyone. Harry though, attacking Harry he couldn't understand. Speaking of Hershel he couldn't see him anywhere in the barn and wondered where he was.

"I'm fine, he was just angry we didn't tell him straight away" Harry replies laying a hand on Daryl's cheek which he instinctively leans into.

"Damn straight I am you think ya could've kept this a secret from us eh?" Shane asks angrily standing up from where Daryl had knocked him to the ground, rubbing his jaw. Anger was radiating from Shanes body, so much so that Daryl was convinced that the man had some kind of anger issue.

"Shane you've gotta calm down, we were going to tell you once I had spoken to Hershel calmly. You can't honestly think that storming in here all guns blazing that you're going to get any answers?" Harry said acting as if he hadn't almost been strangled by Shane less than a minute ago.

Shane just laughed at Harry, his eyes going wide and looking everything like a complete maniac. He's gone crazy Daryl thought. Absolutely crazy.

Daryl knows Shane might not have been like this before the world went to shit but Shane sure has lost it since then. His need to survive has become so strong that he seems to have lost sense of the world. Shane has become like an animal, his primal instinct to survive has kicked in, and the only ones he cares about is his family, meaning Lori and Carl. Daryl wasn't stupid he knew Shane and Lori had been sleeping together before Rick came back, anyone who had eyes could have worked that out. He just feels sorry for Rick and Carl who are completely oblivious to it all, well maybe not Rick, he's seen the questioning looks he gives Lori and Shane sometimes. Daryl just wondered how long it was going to be before it all came out.

Not long if Shane carries on like this, at this rate he was going to be shouting it all out to the world.

"Like I'm gonna listen to a faggot like you. You think you can just waltz in here and stir everything up? You can't even sleep at night without whining and bloody shouting through the whole night calling out to all the damn walkers who have been hiding in the barn, which you _knew _about, and didn't need to feel obliged to tell us!" Shane shouts coming right up to Harrys face and pins him back against the wall by his neck.

However Daryl immediately pushes Shane back and Shane had the nerve to smirk obviously guessing Daryl would pull a move like that and tackles Daryl to the ground.

"That's it Daryl protect you're weak little man. Wouldn't have pegged you for a faggot though, did ya brother know? Bet he hated having a faggot as a brother, bet that's why he's left ya, couldn't stand to look at you no more" Shane taunts and he knew it was no use telling him that Merle knew and didn't necessarily like it but put up with it knowing there was nothing he could do about it. This man was beyond reason.

* * *

Teddy was stood outside with Carl and his mum nervously biting his thumbnail, a habit his daddy always told him not to do, but he had seen his papa do it can't be that bad. He couldn't help it anyway he was worried about it daddy and papa, they were both in the stables with an angry Shane and had yet to come back out again.

He looked over at Carl and saw him in a big hug with his mum, looking over by the house he saw Sophia with her mum as well, and wished he could hug his parents to. He wasn't silly he knew he had had a mum before and that daddy and papa weren't his real parents. His real parents had died saving him when he was a baby. He loves them lots and lots even though he doesn't know them except for the pictures his daddy shows him, but he also loves daddy and papa lots and lots and having two daddy's is great. Sometimes he wishes he could have a momma too but then remembers he has lots of aunties instead and that's just as cool.

Hearing lots of shouting coming from the stables Teddy runs over to it while Carl and his mum are stull hugging and goes to see if his parents are okay. When he gets to stables he sees his papa lying on the floor with Shane crouching over him and his daddy coughing by the wall.

"Hey get off my papa" Teddy shouts running over to Shane and tries to pull him off his papa. Nobody can hurt his papa, not even a big meanie like Shane.

"Stay out of it little man I don't wanna hurt ya" Shane says angrily at Teddy but Teddy completely ignores him and carries on trying to pull him off. He needed Shane to stop hurting his papa; he needed to save his papa.

"I told you to stop Teddy" Shane says and he sounded even angrier this time but Teddy didn't care.

Teddy yelped in surprise when Shane suddenly stood up and picked Teddy up and placed him further away from his papa. Shane then crouched down in the front of him and Teddy tried to give him his most angry look by glaring at him and folding his arms across his chest.

"Look kid you need to stay out of it, this is between me and your dads okay, we don't need you getting hurt as well" Shane told him less angrily but Teddy was still angry, his parents were hurt after all.

"No you hurt daddy and papa"

"Look kid I don't wanna get angry with you but your drying ma patience here, just back off from it. I won't hurt them anymore I promise, I just want to talk with them privately"

Teddy glared at Shane and then swiftly stamped on Shanes foot as hard as his little body would let him and ran off to see if his parents were okay. Leaving a very shocked Shane behind who was cursing little kids whilst rubbing his foot.

**Notes: **I'm so sorry for the long wait but I've been really busy these last few weeks and this chapter has been a pain to write but I'm hoping I did okay with it. I'll try and put the next chapter up quicker this time but I've got a lot on so I won't make any promises. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

Choking back on the air that was forcing its way back into his lungs, harry was searching for Teddy through his watery strained eyes. He nearly stopped breathing again from shock when he saw Teddy stamp on Shanes foot with a look he had never seen on Teddy's face before; a look of pure anger. A five year old should never look that angry, Harry wondered whether it was the slight anger werewolf inside of Teddy. That thought left as quickly as it came though when he thought about how he needed to see whether Teddy and Daryl were okay.

Harry so badly wished he could have unleashed his magic on Shane, but ever since the horcrux left his body he hasn't been able to control his magic when he gets overemotional. It doesn't help that he is still one of the most powerful wizards alive meaning there is a lot of magic inside of Harry, a lot of magic that seems to get out of control with his emotions. It's another reason why he ended up so drained searching for Daryl, he's magic went on overdrive in the search. It's like he's a kid again having bursts of accidental magic, he hates it. He feels like he's still being cursed even though he's got rid of Voldemort, as if that wasn't enough.

He may really dislike Shane a lot but he'd rather not attack him with a burst of uncontrollable magic, not when he could have ended up hurting Daryl and Teddy as well. That would have been something he'd never be able to forgive himself for, so instead with a lot of effort he reined his magic in and tried to push Shane off him instead of letting his magic take control. Despite his best efforts Harry knew he wouldn't have been able to control his emotions if he went and attacked Shane with magic, magic was also something he didn't want the group finding out about just yet.

Finally having enough air in his lungs and his magic back in check Harry makes his way over to Teddy and Daryl who were embraced in a tight hug.

"You both okay?" Harry asks, his voice still rough from Shane getting his hands round his neck.

"Daddy you're okay!" Teddy exclaims leaping from Daryl's lap to his, flinging his arms round Harry's neck. He tried to hide the grimace but he knows Daryl saw it from the flash of anger he saw in Daryl's eyes.

"You need to teach that little toe rag of yours some manners you know" Shane shouts making his way over to them causing Harry to grip Teddy that bit tighter. However Harry couldn't help the grin that arose on his lips when he sees the limp in Shanes walk.

"Teddy knows t' show manners t' the people who deserve it. Considerin' w'at ya done ya lucky it was Teddy that got t' ya first" Daryl replied angrily, standing up and walking right up into Shanes face. His shoulders were stiff and his fingers were clenched into a fist, Daryl was ready for a fight.

"Was that a threat Dixon?" Shane taunted looking completely relaxed as if he thought he was going to get out of this completely unscathed. Harry knew Shane underestimated Daryl, completely blinded by his hatred for them. Harry hated how not everyone accepted his little family, he was fed up of people having expectations from him, or wanting him to be someone he wasn't. He wanted people to just except who he was, he wasn't going to pretend to be someone he's not, not anymore.

"Shane we don't want to fight" He'd had enough fighting to last him a life time. All he wanted was to take his family back to their tent and hibernate with them for the rest of the day.

He wishes he could be so lucky.

"To bad, a fights what you're gonna get" Shane said with a scary looking grin on his face and punches Daryl in the face causing Harry to shout out in shock.

"Shane what the hell are you doing?!" Rick shouts angrily as he runs into the barn, just in time to see the punch. Shane takes a step back from Daryl, and Harry settles Teddy in his arms and rushes over to Daryl who's holding his hand over one eye, and glaring at Shane through his other eye.

"There's walkers in the barn Rick, and these guys decided we didn't need to know about it" Shane growled pointing a finger towards Harry and Daryl.

"Shane did you even ask them why haven't told us, or when they even found out about it?" Rick asked glaring at Shane who looked momentarily stunned.

"Does it matter Rick they kept something as dangerous as that a secret from us, they can't be trusted"

Harry was fuming inside whilst hugging Teddy tightly. What had they ever done to Shane to make him hate them instantly, except love his family? Being judged without evidence was something Harry had lived with his entire life and it wasn't something he wasn't going to stand for now.

"You haven't even given them a chance to explain Shane, you can't go shouting the odds without giving them a chance" Rick reasoned trying to get through to Shane but Harry knew it would be like talking to a brick wall. Harry however had found a new respect for Rick, it looked like he was finally learning stand up to Shane.

"This is bullshit man, I don't need to give them a chance 'cause they can't be trusted. Why can't you all see that?!" Shane fumes and stormed out the out the stables leaving a slightly bewildered Rick behind.

Harry just lets out a frustrated sigh knowing this wasn't over yet. Shane was never going to back down, they were either going to have to leave or find some way of keeping out of Shanes way. Neither option seemed easy.

"You all okay?" Rick asks turning round to face them, a look of concern upon his face. Rick seemed to honestly care about them which lightened Harry's mood slightly, it seems they were slowly growing on everyone in the group, expect for Shane of course.

"Fine" Daryl grunted and Harry knew Daryl was kicking himself inside for giving Shane a chance to punch him. Harry would kiss it better later, that'd put Daryl in a better mood about it he thought cheekily.

"I'm sorry about Shane… he never used to be like this, I don't know what's got into him" Rick told them staring down at the ground looking genuinely upset about what had happened. Harry knew how tough times can change people, and not necessarily in the good way. Some people get a lot braver and grow into a stronger person, like Neville, but then people like Shane grow angry and bitter at the world.

"What the HELL are you doing?!" Shane shouts from outside and Harry closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath and wonders what's got the angry man wound up now.

"What now?" Harry hears Rick mutter under his breath as he walks out of the stables still muttering about Shane, causing Harry to feel sorry for the man who seems to have lost his best friend to this new unkind world.

Standing up to stretch his legs that had gone to sleep under the pressure of sitting on the floor for so long, Harry pulls Daryl into a hug and breaths in Daryl's scent which instantly calms him. He doesn't know why it does but he's not going to complain about it, Daryl's presence just seems to instantly sooth him and his magic.

Hearing a lot more shouting coming from Shane, Rick and Hershel they both give each other a weary look, both knowing they had better go see what all the commotion is about. Although neither of them are actually ready to break their hold on each other.

Harry reluctantly pulled away from Daryl's grip but instantly linked his fingers into Daryl's and pulled him out of the stables, beckoning Teddy along with them. He instantly regretted his decision when he found out what all the commotion was about, Hershel and Jimmy had found a couple more walkers and were attempting to put them in the barn. It did answer the question on where Hershel had gone with Jimmy, and why Shane was shouting the odds, but Harry still wished he had stayed in the stables blissfully ignorant. Now however he was going to have to intervene because that's who he was, despite how annoying it could sometimes be.

Listening to Rick try and talk some sense into Shane Harry realised Shane had completely lost it and could end up causing some serious damage. Harry racked his brain for some kind of mild spell that could help the situation, without making it completely obvious that he had done magic but he came up with nothing, no small spell anyway.

"Guy's gone nuts" Daryl muttered and he could only watch in horror as Shane shot the walker that Hershel had been holding. He instantly pulled Teddy into his chest to stop him from having to watch, he knew Teddy was going to see lot of it in this world but he was going to damn well prevent it when he could.

Realising all he could do was try and talk Shane out of it if he wanted a chance of trying to keep his identity hidden for as long as possible Harry sighed and squeezed Daryl's hand.

"Ya gonna try an' talk t' the nutter aren't ya?" Daryl asked knowing Harry too well. Harry could tell that Daryl didn't think it was going to work, but was grateful he didn't try and talk him out of it as he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

"I've got to at least try" Harry said talking to himself more than Daryl and then walked over into the chaos wondering if this was all really worth the hassle.

"Oi Shane what the hell do you think you're doing?" Harry shouted over the screams all of the women and Rick. The effect was one he had hoped for, Shane to stop what he was doing for the moment. Now all Harry had to do was try and stop him all together. Easier said than done probably.

"Something that should have been done a long time ago" Shane growled cocking his gun back up towards the walker that Jimmy was now shakily holding. Harry cursed under his breath realising Shane was way past reasoning.

"You do realise if you do this you're going to lose the closest thing you've had to a home in a long time" Harry replied hoping the thought of being out in the open again might strike a chord inside of Shane.

"Like here's any safer with these beasts living here. I'm doing everyone a favour right now, why can't anyone see that? Ya had no qualms with me killing walkers before, what's so different now?" Shane ranted looking around crazily at the group, his gun staying steadily pointed at the walker Jimmy was still holding.

"These ones are safely locked in Hershel's barn where they can stay until we've talked to Hershel. He still believes their people inside and we have to respect that while we're on his land. I had been talking to him in the stables until he had to leave with Jimmy and you came barging in shouting the odds" Harry stated coldly, he had gone past talking nicely to Shane who obviously wasn't going to give Harry a chance, so he didn't see why he should give Shane one.

"Still people inside? Really? The guys crazy, I'll show you what they really are" Shane shouted and shot the walker Jimmy was holding and then ran towards the barn and shot the lock on it to pieces allowing the walkers to escape.

"Shane no!" Harry pleaded, this was not how it was supposed to go, this was not the plan. Daryl choose that moment to come up beside Harry and hand him a gun as his sword was still in their tent. Harry took the gun and stared at it in his hands. He knew how to use a gun sure, the war made sure of that but it didn't mean he like using them. Guns were so loud; at least his sword was quiet.

The sound of guns firing brought Harry out of his thoughts and he noticed just how many walkers there were in the barn. A couple were heading in Harry's direction so he took the safety off his gun and pointed at one of the walkers heads, his hand shook slightly when he realised it was a young women. This could have all been avoided if Shane had kept his cool, sure they would have probably had to be killed in the end but it could have all been done without everyone having to watch, without Teddy having to watch. Finally pulling the trigger with a 'sorry' muttered under his breath Harry quickly shot the other walker as well and watched them full to the ground with a thud.

Harry stared at the ground where the two walkers now laid, he hated that he had to do this now; he thought he had left all of this behind when he ended the war. Seemed like fate had other ideas though, seemed like he was going to be forever fighting for his and his families lives.

Looking around at all the other bodies lying on the ground Harry was flooded with memories of walking through the great hall and seeing all the people that had lost their lives fighting in the war lying on the ground, dead, a memory he constantly relived. Only this time their eyes were staring back at him, taunting him. Harry collapsed to the floor, he knew it was all in his head, that he was actually at the farm with Teddy and Daryl, but all he could see was Hogwarts and the bodies that littered it.

It got worse now; the bodies were now talking and shouting at him that it was his fault causing Harry to be consumed with guilt.

"No…..no I'm sorry…..It's my fault…. I'm so sorry…..NO!"


	8. Chapter 8

Daryl watched in horror as Harry cried out to the world, looking heartbroken and crushed. Daryl wanted to gather his partner up in a big hug and make everything better, somehow, but he had this awful feeling that it was a flashback. If that was the case then a hug wouldn't be advisable right now, which left Daryl's options of helping very limited.

"Fred….Remus….Tonks….Ron…. I'm so sorry" Harry cried, gripping his hair in an iron grip and pulling tight. Daryl desperately wanted to help his partner but his fear had been confirmed hearing those names slip from Harry's mouth, it was a flashback.

Wait a second, had Harry just whispered Ron's name alongside Tonks and Remus? Daryl seriously hoped that didn't mean what he thought it did, no wonder Harry looked so distraught. If Daryl remembered right then Ron had been Harry's first true friend, the first person that his cousin hadn't been able to scare off. Daryl just severely hoped that Ron hadn't gone in a horrible way and that he hadn't been able to bite anyone else as well, otherwise these flashbacks might be a bit more frequent.

Briefly looking up from his partner he could see that most of the group had frozen in shock just watching the scene unfold in front of them. He could also see Teddy crying in Carol's arms desperate to escape and see his daddy. His heart broke a bit more at the sight, Teddy shouldn't have seen any of this happen, Harry was never going to forgive himself when he realises Teddy's seen him like this. Not that it could have been helped of course but he knew his partner, he knew he was still going to blame himself no matter what anyone else said.

After giving everyone a stern glare that broke the rest of the group out of their gazes and quickly carrying back on with what they were previously doing, which mostly involved clearing up the bodies, Daryl crouched down in front of Harry.

"Harry it's just a flashback, your still here with me and Teddy at the farm" Daryl told Harry softly, talking was all he could do to help at the moment, and hope that his voice was enough to pull harry out the flashback.

"NO! No no no…. it's all my fault…. All my fault… no please, I'm sorry!" Harry cried pulling at his hair even harder, making Daryl wonder whether he was actually going to end up pulling his hair out.

"Daddy!"

Daryl looked up in horror to see teddy running towards them crying his eyes out. He could see Carol looking guilty and actually crying herself as well. He couldn't blame her though, Teddy can be one fidgety little monster when he wants to be.

Daryl had to quickly wrap his arms round Teddy's waist and bring him into his lap to stop him from launching himself at his dad.

"Papa you gotta help daddy, stop him from crying" Teddy sniffed still trying to break free from Daryl.

"I know Teds I'm trying, but your dads having a nightmare right now so as much as you want to you can't touch him, otherwise he might accidentally hurt you. Your dad would never forgive 'imself if he did" Daryl told his son honestly, he didn't want to scare the kid but knew he had to be honest.

"Oh 'kay. Thought nightmares only happened when you 'sleep?" Teddy asked thoughtfully looking up at Daryl, tears still rolling down his face. Daryl gently wiped them off with his thumb and kissed the top of his sons head.

"Sometimes people have them after they seen somethin' bad happen" Daryl told him truthfully hoping he wasn't scaring Teddy too much, but he didn't know what else to do. He felt completely out of his depth, Harry always knows what to say, Daryl the quite loner type was no good with words.

Daryl got no response from Teddy, just a little nod of the head and went back to watching his dad who was constantly mumbling 'I'm sorry' over and over.

"Daddy I don't know if you can hear me but it's Teddy. Papa told me you're in a nightmare and I know it must be scary cause mine are to, but you keep telling me that there not real so's you don't need to be scared no more" Teddy tells his dad and Daryl can feel his eyes welling up at the sight. Teddy can seem far more grown up than 5 sometimes, which is scary but also something Daryl knows he can't exactly moan about it in times like these.

"Me and papa are here daddy, I really want to give you a hug to make things better for you but papa said it's safer if I don't cause you might hurt me. I don't understand that though cause you're my daddy and you'd never hurt me" Teddy says so matter of factly that Daryl is now properly crying and pulls Teddy into a tighter hug and buries his head into his sons shoulder.

Harry continues to mumble and Teddy starts to sniffle realising that his words haven't helped his dad pull himself out of the nightmare.

"Daddy please, you're scaring me, I just want my daddy back!" Teddy shouts and Daryl turns Teddy round and gives him a proper hug and just lets Teddy cry it out whilst he stares at Harry desperately, trying to see if there are any signs of recognition on his face.

Daryl's prayers are answered when he sees Harry very slowly let go of his hair and lifts his head up. His face bright red, and his eyes are all swollen but he was no longer mumbling or crying.

"Teddy?" Harry whispered his face full of confusion, as if he still hasn't fully escaped, but he was getting there.

"Daddy your back!" Teddy squealed, turning back round to face his dad, desperately trying to escape Daryl's grasp. However Daryl wasn't allowing it until he knew Harry was fully back.

"Teddy, Daryl" Harry replied softly and much more coherently than the last, his arms falling to his sides, his eyes drooping as if he was about to fall asleep. Knowing Harry was definitely back now Daryl finally allowed Teddy to escape, who immediately launched himself at Harry who gratefully accepted the embrace and buried his head in his son's shoulders.

After a few minutes Daryl managed to usher Harry and Teddy into their tent for a bit more privacy, away from all the looks. Quickly glancing over at Rick he noticed the leader give a brief smile and a nod of the head which Daryl returned gratefully. Glad that there was at least one person in the group who accepted and understood them.

Entering the tent Daryl watched Harry put Teddy, who was already fast asleep, probably emotionally exhausted from the whirlwind of a day into his sleeping bag. Daryl got himself comfy on their makeshift bed and tapped the side next to him telling Harry he wanted him to join which Harry did immediately with a small smile on his face. Harry latched onto him like an octopus, Harry was always was one for cuddles and constant contact, something which Daryl was pretty sure Harry had been deprived of as a child, not to different to his childhood. Something that they both now loved and made sure to make up for now.

They sat like this for a good 10 minutes in a comfortable silence but with one question burning in Daryl's mind, what happened to Ron? Daryl admitted to himself he was afraid to ask, mainly because he didn't want to upset Harry.

He then reasoned with himself that if something had happened to Ron then Harry probably needed to get it off his chest, so taking a deep breath Daryl broke the silence.

"Harry what too happened to Ron? You whispered his name alongside Tonks, Remus and Fred's. I understand if you don't want to tell me but-" Harry then interrupted his blabbering with a quick kiss to shut him up.

"Its fine Daryl I was meaning to tell you I just didn't know how" Harry said quietly laying his head back down on his chest. "Ron was at work and got put on the front line fighting them off….. They were doing quite well winning from what I hear… but then- then he got scratched. We didn't know what happened when you got scratched at that point" Harry's voice drifted off and Daryl felt a wetness on his chest meaning Harry was crying. Daryl was brought back to the memories of Jim and Daryl hoped Ron had it better than Jim did but knew it was all wishful thinking.

"You don't have to carry on Harry" Daryl said softly to Harry and kissing on the top of his head, knowing that it was probably painful for harry to relive this.

"No its fine I need to" Harry replied taking in a deep breath "we took him to the hospital not even thinking about how it might be the worst place to go. The nurses couldn't do anything, nothing would heal the cut, we-we watched as Ron slowly lost his mind and began to turn. Realising what was happening 'Mione k-killed him. Don't know how she did it, don't think I could of done it if it was you" Harry said looking at Daryl with a sad smile. " Few minutes later we heard screams from other parts of the hospital and quickly noticed it was being overrun and that's when I got me, Teddy and 'Mione out of there. Couldn't convince her to come with me back here though" Harry said completely in tears now.

"You saved her though Harry, she's with family " Daryl said softly trying to comfort him and let him get it all out. He couldn't believe what harry had been through in such a short space of time, he really didn't know how Harry had managed to get through all that he has in life in one peace.

"Yeah I spose" Harry mumbled into Daryl's chest, his tears slowly subsided. "Speaking of family what happened to Merle, you were with him at the beginning weren't you?" Harry questioned quietly, his face peering up towards Daryl's.

Just about hearing Harry's question Daryl let out a sigh, he didn't really want to talk about Merle but he knew he owed Harry the story considering Harry had told his. So letting in a deep breath Daryl quietly told his story, about how it was just him and Merle at the beginning, how they joined Shane's group, and then how Merle never came back and Daryl found his hand.

Without even realising it Daryl had shed a few tears for his lost brother which he quickly wiped away even though he knew Harry will have seen them. A lot of people would say Merle didn't deserve his tears that he had brought it upon himself. To Daryl though Merle was the one that had raised him, despite all his flaws Merle was his only true family until Harry and Teddy had come along. So despite the fact that a lot of the time Merle drove him mad and couldn't ever stay out of trouble Daryl loved him and missed him more than he would admit to himself.

"Daryl I'm so sorry, I know Merle was the only family you ever truly had" Harry told him sitting up and resting his head back on his shoulder.

"'s not true anymore, I got you an' Teddy now" Daryl replied with a smile looking down at Harry, who lifted his head and slowly leaned forward until their lips met in a gentle kiss. Closing his eyes and returning the kiss Daryl suddenly thought about how much he had truly missed Harry he pulled him even closer and deepened the kiss causing Harry to let out a surprised gasp. Daryl suddenly desperate for more made quick work of Harrys t-shirt and ran his hands all over Harry's chest, making sure to pay special attention to his nipples, Harry then let out a moan causing Daryl to smirk, he had definitely missed that noise.

"Teddy, hang on" Harry gasped, his eyes straying out to their sleeping son who hadn't stirred despite the activities going on.

"He's asleep, jus' don' be too noisy" Daryl chuckled knowing it would be hard for Harry.

"Easier said than done" Harry muttered and then whispered a word Daryl's come to realise was a silencing spell, and then kissed Daryl with such force he let out a gasp himself and gently pushed Harry onto the bed and climbed on top of him.

Daryl stared down at the beauty in front of him and wondered how he managed to cope these last few weeks without him. As much as Harry said he grounded him, Harry was his rock, they balanced each other out. If Harry hadn't returned when he had then Daryl would have slowly secluded himself to the point of pushing everyone away and ending up by himself which was never good.

"You just gonna stare at me all day long" Harry chuckled breaking Daryl out his thoughts.

"Cheeky bastard" Daryl replied leaning down and sucked down hard on Harry's nipple causing Harry to let out a loud moan, making Daryl grateful for the silencing spell, he really did not need the rest of the group to know what they were getting up to right now.

Slowly kissing his way down Harry's chest he stopped when he reached his jeans, causing Harry to whimper.

"Don't stop there you git" Harry whined which only made Daryl laugh.

"Don't get ya pants in a twist Potter" Daryl laughed and pulled off his own t-shirt and leaned down for another kiss and his chest was immediately attacked with Harry's own hands which were obviously intent on getting payback- which was definitely working considering Harry was brilliant with his hands.

* * *

Daryl flops down next to Harry breathing heavily, then turns round to face Harry who is breathing just as heavily. Their eyes meet and Daryl can't help the dopey grin that forms on his face at the sight in front of him and can't resist leaning in for another kiss, much softer than before.

"Hmm love you" Harry's mutters when Daryl pulls away his eyes already drooping . Even though Harry's said it many times Daryl's heart still swells when he hears it, not growing up in a loving family and not having any true friends he hasn't really grown up with love. Meaning it took him a long time to return the saying, luckily for him Harry understood and was patient with him. Eventually Daryl found the courage to say the words and the smile that Harry gave him and the look of pure love in his eyes when he did made Daryl question why he had ever waited.

"Love ya to" Daryl muttered to an already asleep Harry.

Remembering the carnage they had left outside the tent Daryl quickly put his clothes back on, and after placing a kiss on his family's foreheads he left the tent to see what awaited him.

* * *

**Notes: **I am so so sorry for the seriously long wait for this chapter but a lots gone on in the past few months which hasn't left me a lot of time to write. I've managed to slowly write this chapter and it's eventually here. My life's quietened down now so hopefully you shouldn't have to wait so long for the next one.

Thank you to everyone that's stayed with me and let me know what you think of this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Walking out of the tent Daryl is almost immediately bombarded by a very worried looking Sophia who has tears running down her face.

"Is Harry okay?" Sophia asks quietly making Daryl remember how scary this must have looked to the kids. Crouching down to Sophia's level he rests a hand on Sophia's shoulder, regretting it immediately when she shy's away from it and he is forever grateful that Ed isn't still around. Instead he lets his hand fall to the side and just looks Sophia straight in the eyes.

"Harry's absolutely fine, he's just a little tired so he's sleepin' at the moment" he tells her honestly, causing the girl to let out a big smile. What shocks him even more is the big hug he gives her, despite the fact she'd shied away from him just 30 seconds ago. Then Daryl remembers what he was like as a kid, he had to be the one to initiate the contact. Momentarily stunned by the hug he kneels there awkwardly, then finally brings his hands round the small girl and returns the hug lightly.

Sophia eventually pulls away from the hug and then immediately asks Carol if she can go play with Carl who must have snuck up on them, this place was making him slack up on his skills, he needed to go out and hunt soon.

"I've never seen you smile as much as you have in the past few days" Carol comments to Daryl who is still kneeling awkwardly on the ground in a stunned silence, which just seems to make Carol smirk.

"Huh?" Daryl asks, not quite realising he was being spoken to. He was fine with Teddy and Harry, well and Merle, but anyone else he was still a bit awkward with, so kids who weren't his coming up and giving him a hug confused him.

"I would have never have guessed you had a family, you never spoke of them" Carol told him, looking at him almost sadly, which confused him some more. Why should she be worried? Why did she care whether he had a family or not?

"I thought I would never see them again, I didn't want to talk about them, it hurt too much" Daryl replied defensively. He was a private person as it was, and talking about them would have hurt, so he hunted and stayed away from as much human confrontation as he could, it was his defence mechanism.

"Speaking about it might have helped. Anyway you smile so much more, it's nice to see. You make a cute family" Carol told him with a smile. Daryl scoffs at that- cute cannot be associated with him at all, teddy yes, maybe even Harry but not him. This only makes Carol laugh which just makes him huff even more.

"I know the word ruins your macho image Daryl but you are a cute family, ask any of the ladies round here and they'll agree with me" Carol tells him with a laugh and walks away leaving him in yet another stunned silence. He was not cute.

* * *

Harry woke up groggily to the sound of whimpering and slowly sat up and saw Teddy whimpering into his sleeping bag. Shuffling across to his son Harry slowly brought him into his lap and tried to slowly rouse him from his nightmare.

"Daddy?" Teddy whimpered into Harry's stomach, still in the cusps of his nightmare.

"I'm here cub, your fine, it's only a nightmare" Harry tells his cub, stroking his head comfortingly. These nightmares were gradually happening more and more and Harry hated that his son was going to have to try and get used to this life, otherwise he was going to live in a permanent state of fear. He hated that killing walking but dead people was going to become the norm, Harry wasn't silly he knew there wasn't going to be a cure anytime soon, if ever. The people who would have been able to come up with a cure were most likely in the middle of it all, making it nearly impossible to survive it. His son was going to grow up where killing was norm, Harry shuddered at the thought.

"Come on let's see what everyone's up to" Harry tells his son, picking him up and walking out the tent. Teddy may be a bit big for lifts now but he'd just woken up from a nightmare and still needed comfort.

Walking out of the tent Harrys ears were immediately met with the sound of retching, not a pleasant sound to be met with. Looking round the area Harry spotted Lori bent over behind a tree, probably trying to be discreet. Feeling sorry for her Harry decided to go see if she was okay and find out if she had spoken to Rick yet, knowing how uncertain the women was Harry would bet that she hasn't, and he was definitely going to try and change that.

"Lori, you okay?" Harry asked quietly, not wanting to spook the women.

"Harry! You scared me"

"Sorry" Harry winced, Lori looked very pale with tears rolling down her cheeks which she quickly wiped away realising she had company. "Baby giving you grief already?" Harry joked trying to lighten mode. The only effect it had though was for Lori to sigh and more tears to roll down her face.

Not one for liking to see women cry, Harry set Teddy down on the ground and opened up his arms hoping Lori would take the offer. Surprising Harry slightly Lori took the offer immediately and broke down in sobs. Rubbing her back gently Harry let Lori cry it all out knowing she must have been bottling it all up for a while. Eventually Lori stopped crying and pulled away from the hug looking embarrassed.

"Umm thanks Harry" Lori sniffed, rubbing her hands over her face, trying to get rid of the fact she had just broken down.

"Its fine, you couldn't keep bottling that all up. Have you not spoken to Rick yet though?" Harry asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know how to tell him Harry, I don't even know if it's his" Lori blurted out shocking Harry slightly. Although it now made a lot sense about why she was so scared to Rick considering she's not even sure who the father is.

"It's Shane isn't it" Harry replied and saw Lori nod her head. Everything about Shane made far more sense, the constant anger and the arguing with his not dead best friend.

"How could I have been so stupid, it was one time, I was so upset about Rick and he was just there trying to comfort me and it just happened, and now he won't leave me alone" Lori ranted collapsing against another tree and dropping her head into her hands.

"Do you want me to go get Moony he always makes me feel better when I'm upset?" Teddy suddenly pipes up from Harrys side, causing Lori to lift her head out of her hands with a smile on her face and a slight chuckle.

"That's very thoughtful of you Teddy" Lori replied sounding genuinely grateful. With that Teddy ran back off to their tent to hunt down his favourite toy.

"You should feel honoured, he never allows anyone to cuddle his wolf" Harry chuckled, settling himself down next to Lori, whilst keeping an eye on Teddy to make sure he made it to the tent okay.

"He's a great kid" Lori told him quietly.

"Lori I need to ask, when you and Shane, you know, it was consensual right?" Harry asked warily now that Teddy was away for a second, he didn't want to pry, but the thought of it not being consensual made him shudder.

It took Lori a few seconds to reply which made Harry worry, the response he got only slightly made him feel better.

"I was upset and Shane said he was going to make me forget everything for a while and I stupidly went along with it, desperate to just forget for a little while even though I could kind of tell where it was going. By the time I definitely knew where it was going I was too caught up in the fact that this was the first time I hadn't felt the need to cry that I didn't stop it. As soon as it was over I regretted it and pushed Shane away and tried to stay clear of him. The next day Rick came back and I regretted it even more" Lori told him, and Harry felt anger pooling into his stomach, Shane hadn't technically raped Lori but he had definitely taken advantage of her emotional state and he hated people who twisted with people's emotions.

"He took advantage of you Lori" Harry whispered, desperately trying desperately to not get angry as he knew Lori needed comfort right now.

"Found it!" Teddy called running back to Lori and Harry, Moony safely tucked in his arms. Teddy slowed down when he approached and slowly walked over to Lori holding the wolf out to Lori patiently waiting for her to take it from him. When Lori finally cottoned on Teddy beamed and then settled himself in his dad's lap, looking very proud of himself.

"Thank you Teddy" Lori whispered, a faint smile upon her face and tucked the wolf into her arms unsure of what to really do with toy but not wanting to upset the child.

"Lori you really need to speak to Rick about all this, you can't keep this from him, he had a right to know" Harry urged, he really didn't want to go behind Lori's back and tell Rick but the poor man had a right to know and Rick would take it so much better if he heard it from his wife, but Lori was a stubborn woman. He could understand her hesitation he really could but Rick really needed to know, he was also the best person to sort Shane out, just saying the man's name in his head caused anger to boil in Harry's stomach.

"I know" Lori sighed sounding completely drained and looking exhausted which was not good, especially considering the fact she was pregnant. The situation really needed to get sorted so that she could get checked out by Hershel, the man may be only a vet like he kept reiterating but he was the best option they had right now. Harry really wished now more than ever that he had read more of the medical books Hermione brought along so that he knew more spells than just the basic healing ones he had learned.

Shuffling closer to Lori which wasn't as easy as he thought with Teddy in his lap he wrapped an arm round the women's shoulder in comfort. However, Harry wasn't expecting Lori to start crying again and lean into the embrace. Not wanting to be left out and wanting to help Lori, Teddy also leaned in and gave her hug which actually caused Lori to chuckle and wrap an arm round the child.

"Lori?"

Lori lifted her head up to see Rick standing there with tears falling down his face looking completely devastated.

"Wh-what you just said about Shane….is it true?"


End file.
